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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Spam (not the meat) (11/03/11)
Spam in a generic sense is the type of junk that clogs up your inbox; advertising from an unwanted company, numerous forwarded e-mails from a treasured relative, where one interesting email worthy of attention, but still unnecessary will occasionally be found amongst the other million and e-mails from virus spreaders.

Spam in a spiritual sense is equally annoying and time wasting, so lets learn to recognise it rather than go reading through an e-mail that really should have landed in junk rather than inbox.

One type of spam that keeps us from living fulfilled lives is living in the past or the future rather than the present. Living in the past is wishing we could go back to the spiritual highpoint and not moving into the here and now God has appointed us to, and living in the future is equally dangerous. Living where you want to be and wasting time now. Ephesians 5:15 “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (NKJV)


Case in point: I am a fruit and veg delivery driver, working a full-time job Monday to Friday with various other church pursuits in the evenings and weekends, along with being newly married.
Last year I went on two mission trips to Papua New Guinea where God worked amazing miracles in peoples lives. My team has been back twice this year and how I wish I could have gone too, but that is not what God had given me to do. Instead, I was delivering fruit and vegetables to the various towns in our shire and editing and producing a magazine for the 25 churches in our shire that let everyone know what was going on where, when and with whom, along with encouraging articles, quotes, and interviews. That is what God placed in my heart to do when I was in PNG last year, but I could not do it while I was there.

Then the future, wow, I would love to start a Bible Study called Spirit, Soul and Body, teaching people how to have complete freedom in all areas of their lives, as I have done much training in this area, and I plan to write various books and articles. All God given dreams, indeed He says that ‘without a vision His people will perish’.

So often we get caught up in talking about the vision for the future, but it can become spam instead if you spend your life wishing you were there instead of here.

How can we live in the here? God has shown me to pray; for the small family business I work for, and wow, what results! We have secured several big contracts since I started praying and people who were holding out payments have payed their debt.

Pray for the people I deliver to: One lady who I knew was a Christian was constantly miserable whenever I delivered to her house and I started praying for the joy of the Lord to be her strength. Now she smiles all the time!

Ask God to show you how to live in the here and now, and if you do not have a vision for your future, ask Him to show you. He says in His Word that He will.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
C D Swanson 
11/17/11
This was very true and I enjoyed it entirely - from beginning to the end. Clever way of bringing the topic to the fore.

God Bless~
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
11/17/11
I like how you pray for the people you deliver to. The analogy you made is an interesting one. Some may find it a little off topic but you made a good effort. I enjoyed your message and you left me with things to think about.
Terry Lee
11/22/11
This is an interesting piece. I always love it when personal experience is woven into a challenge entry.

So it might not surprise you that the section that grabbed my heart and attention was the anecdote, where you explained your experience as a fruit and veg driver. In future nonfiction entries, I'd would move such an anecdote the very top of the article.

(Also, check out "Jan's Writing Basics" in the "Writing" section of the forums. Scroll to an older lesson, and you will find fantastic tips for nonfiction challenge entries.)